changing a horse's name - is it really bad luck?

atot

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If vetting goes well, will soon have my dream horse back home.
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However its got quite a boring name...Brownie...so...

answers on a postcard please...do you believe changing a horse's name is a bad idea...???
 

tasteofchristmaschaos

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I once changed a horses name, as it made her sound like a cow. Several years later she was diagnosed with ringbone and tie-up. I think I would be too scared to ever change another horses name!
 

Enfys

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I have renamed most of mine nothing dramatic has happened so far, Robin was called that when I got her, her leg is currently held together with stitches and last year she almost died foaling. Hmmmmmmm.

Just an old wives tale. Things are still going to happen whatever a horse is called.
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Flame_

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Bad luck, my ar*e.
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I kept my chestnut's name - she's lame and dangerous

I changed my grey's name - she's sound and safe (most of the time
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)
 

cariad

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Brownie's ok. Not a brilliant name, but not dreadful either. I have Mouse and Dorothy amongst others - now, would you really choose either of those? No. But I live with it and have done for many years to no apparent detriment.
 

hadfos

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tbh it depends on wether you are superstitious or not
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My mate wont change a name because she believes it is bad luck
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personally...if i bought a horse called sally/graham/norman i would change it
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Apparently green is an unlucky colour?mary king does ok,lol!!
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Horses dont know there name,they recognise your tone of voice!
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atot

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Thanks guys - just pondering. Yep, its okay, I just want something a bit girlier. She's a sweet mare, and I think she would suit something like Bella, or Buttons or something.

I don't know why but all our animals have had human names - it seems to be a bit of a trend!!
 

hadfos

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[ QUOTE ]
Not really, unless the horse responds already to that name or comes when that name is called.

[/ QUOTE ]
My horse recognises the sound of my wellies coming up the drive without me shouting his name
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,i shout H,Hads or hadley,he recognises my voice not his name,as they all do
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cariad

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Ah, now I have to disagree with you there. Mine do definitely know their own names and respond to them. I have just got one back from 4 years on loan to a university and I can call his name and he looks up and comes trotting over as he always has done.
 

FrodoBeutlin

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No, it's just a silly superstition.

Having said that....
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I had to choose Frodo's show name a while ago, and had all sorts of fab ideas for names beginning with F...gorgeous Shakespearean names, like Fortinbras, or literary names like Frontino, etc.

In the end, I went to the FN and when they asked me, 'what name do you want him registered as' - I heard myself reply 'Frodo Beutlin' (the name given to him by his breeders)

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I just couldn't do it!
 

hadfos

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[ QUOTE ]
Thanks guys - just pondering. Yep, its okay, I just want something a bit girlier. She's a sweet mare, and I think she would suit something like Bella, or Buttons or something.

I don't know why but all our animals have had human names - it seems to be a bit of a trend!!

[/ QUOTE ]
lol...buttons is a great name
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means chocolate
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well to me anyway!!
Superstition is just that,pure coincidence that things go wrong when changed
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I have always crossed people on the stairs etc...bet most have when peesed,lol,superstition or not
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atot

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I've got Buttons, Daisy, Amber and Bella so far.

I'd love something irish, so am currently looking up unprounouncable names (for me, anyway!) to see if I can find something special
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hadfos

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[ QUOTE ]
Ah, now I have to disagree with you there. Mine do definitely know their own names and respond to them. I have just got one back from 4 years on loan to a university and I can call his name and he looks up and comes trotting over as he always has done.

[/ QUOTE ]
I Can sympathise with you,but it isnt name they know,it is voice,if you have owned them yrs they dont forget,i go away for 2 wks and my lad screams his head off when i come back
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,however all i say is "HEY matey",and he gets soo excited i am back
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love my boy!!
 

hadfos

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[ QUOTE ]
I've got Buttons, Daisy, Amber and Bella so far.

I'd love something irish, so am currently looking up unprounouncable names (for me, anyway!) to see if I can find something special
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[/ QUOTE ]
i still like buttons
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hadfos

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Its a nice sweet natured name
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use it as stable name,and add to it for comps
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cant help you with that thow as i have chocolate focused,lol
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My lad is called hadley and i compete him as hadley
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thats his name and i dont want anything flash,i would be happy with buttons
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hadfos

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[ QUOTE ]
Would you have to change the name on the passport then?

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Thats if it has one
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stable name is entirely up to you
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But if my new horse was called norman i would have to do something about it,lol!!
If they registered with wetherbys etc and have a passported name then no you cant change name but you can change stable name
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Sarah Sum1

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Oh so if a horse has a passport and a dodgy name in it, do you have to use that as it's show name? or can you have what stable name and what show name you like anyway?
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Confuses me
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ETA coz all horses should have passports now, isn't that the law?
 

sjmcc

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i bought my lad 2 months ago n wish id renamed him infact hes only started comeing to his name so did he ever have that name i wonder hes called hughy n i hate it
 

Chico Mio

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Why not call her Castana (Castanya, it has one of those wiggle things over the n, but I haven't got one on my keyboard)? It means 'brown' ,for a horse, in Spain and you could call her Cassie?

My grey is called Caramelo (Toffee) because he was chestnut when born. He is now a big, handsome boy and Caramelo is a bit twee, so we call him Ari.
 

The_snoopster

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I always get horses that have names i dont like my coloured cob mare is called snoopy but she knows its her name comes to call with it, if i call one of the other horses she ignores me so it would be confusing for her to change it. At the moment she is at a stud yard and they thought her name was sophie and she totally ignored them when they called her name as i had told them she comes to call. Now they know her name she is first to come. As for bad luck i think it comes from gypsy folklaw which also states green is a bad luck colour.
 

samstar

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My mare is named QT( supposedly quarter thoroughbred) on her passport but previous owners changed it to star, I daren't change her name again although she does have a nickname of he/she
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Sooty

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It depends entirely on whether you are superstitious. When we got Fraser we only knew his registered name, so called him Fraser (his name is Master Catchphrase) which he now answers to. After six months, we found out he was previously called Catch, so we would have changed that anyway. Personally though, I prefer Brownie to any of the names you have come up with - it is far more unusual. Plus, try and find a name which sounds vaguely similar, not completely different. When we sold a horse called Blobby (not our choice!), his new owner changed it to Bobby.
 

MrsMozart

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Changed all our horses names
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. So far had a mix of luck. Don't believe for one second that it would have been different if had left names as was
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.

Slowly swapped names over, as in took a few days. Neds all seem perfectly happy
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. They don't really care. Dizz will often come to the cry of 'Coooooowbaaaaaag' rather than 'Dizzy', so 'tis academic I feel
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.
 

glamourpuss

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My boy didn't have a name when I got him, even his racing passport just said 'chestnut colt' as he was just too slow on the gallops and sent for meat
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For the first week I had him (and was undecided if I would keep him) he was refered to as 'the one thats on his last chance'.....so he sort of acquired the name Chance
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I often wondered about what the stable lads/lasses called him on the racing yard but given what a little monster he could be when he was younger...I doubt they would have been repeatable
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I tend not to change horses names if they already have them. Not because of superstition but just because I can't be bothered! Sometimes I might 'amend' them slightly to something more workable for me but I kind of think of that as a nickname that I use instead of their real name.

I must be strange though because I think its funny when horses have human names I've met an equine Norman, Barry and Tina. All really suited their names I thought
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